It’s safe to say the Iowa defense left its mark on the field – literally. After starting the game against the Northwestern Wildcats on a pristine green Wrigley grass, the Hawkeyes walked back to the visitors’ dugout leaving behind a scar near the west end zone. That scar: a foot-wide divot filled with gray sand, casting a lone blemish on the gridiron. 

Yet for Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins, this blemish was nothing to be ashamed of, but rather a timely convenience after a four-down goal-line stand. 

“I was breathing hard, so I told the ref to make sure he fixes it because I needed a breather,” he said in his postgame press conference. “It was just two teams anchored in.” 

That goal-line stand was the epitome of a defense that embraced the mantra of ‘bend, don’t break,’ yielding just one touchdown on a short field to the Wildcats while limiting them to 2.8 yards per play and one play of more than 15 yards. 

After starting on its own 33-yard line at the end of the third quarter, the Wildcats marched 55 yards up the field in 14 plays, collecting four first downs, twice as many as they had at halftime. Then, Iowa cornerback Cooper DeJean was flagged for defensive pass interference, and Northwestern moved up 10 yards to the two and granted first-and-goal. 

With four attempts to cross the goal line, the Wildcats gained one yard on their first attempt, an inside-zone run to RB Cam Porter but that was as all Northwestern could muster. 

Two Northwestern QB Brendan Sullivan sneaks up the middle, another Porter rush all yielded the same result: no yards, much to the delight of the Black and Gold faithful, whose cries of encouragement grew louder after each stop. 

For Iowa defensive tackle Yahya Black, the roar of the crowd was helpful in letting him know what had transpired. 

“My sense was, I was one yard deep back here with my face in the dirt, so I really don’t know what’s going on,” he said. “But when you hear the roar of the crowd, then you know you did it … It’s crazy to know your fan base will travel.” 

“That’s every defense’s dream,” Higgins said of the stand. “That’s what he hang our hats on playing physical, so when we saw [Northwestern’s] heavy personnel, we knew it would be a mano a mano game, and that’s what we were happy about. We knew we had the opportunity.”

Lined up with six defensive linemen and four linebackers, Higgins and fellow linebackers Nick Jackson and Kyler Fisher, as well as lineman Ethan Hurkett and defensive back Sebastian Castro, all registered a tackle or assist during the stand. 

According to Higgins, stuffing those plays with a jumbo defensive set was reminiscent of what Iowa linebackers coach Seth Wallace calls “‘high school football,’” where each defender fills a gap and serves as a wall. Yet while the strategy may sound simple in nature, it still requires perfection from all participants in practice. 

“In a situation like that, everyone’s got to win up front,” Higgins said of the defensive stop. “I mean, the running back can fall into the gap for one yard. So if we get a tackle for loss or [the running back] has to bounce it around the defensive line, it takes every guy [to make it] possible.” 

Fisher, a senior and former walk-on for the Hawkeyes, registered the final tackle on fourth down. The Iowa native went from recording two tackles in his redshirt freshman season in 2020 to amassing 22 total so far this season as the starter at the outside linebacker position. 

According to Higgins, Fisher’s position creates rather sporadic playing time, but in spite of the uncertainty in the position, the five-foot-11, 233-pounder has made the most of his “hard” situation. 

“I just respect Kyler and everything he’s accomplished. I mean, he’s dedicated himself to being a good Iowa linebacker,” Higgins said of his teammate. “I feel like, when you’re watching his plays, it’s a testament to how hard he’s been working.” 

Following a game where Northwestern made a goal-line stand of their own against Maryland, Iowa flipped the script, leaving behind evidence of such an accomplishment. For Iowa quarterback Deacon Hill, however, the 2023 season as a whole is all the proof he needs of the Hawkeye defense’s prowess. 

“With the goal line stand, we were in awe a little bit,” Hill said. “But it’s the guys you know, so you expect them to do that because that’s who they are. And that’s what they expect of themselves as well.”